As a Nicaraguan-American, I used to love the Expos because of Dennis Martinez. He was and still is a legend in my birthplace in Managua. Love watching Expos clips, even though I am a true Met fan. This was a great video.
@@franciscosaenzc this dudes everywhere. Someone must have forgotten to tell him that the USA doesnt care about soccer. Its a bore fest watching abunch of ppl run around for 90 minutes just for it to end jn a 0to0 tie. America likes non boring sports, thats why MLS is our lowest pro league cuz soccer is boring af and the rest of the world is boring af and rhats why ppl across glove dont care watching it. But here qhere we have a choice, no one chooses soccer. Football, Basketball, Baseball are where the money's at for a good reason
I'm a Cubs fan, but for some reason, I always had a soft spot for the Expos. I hope they return within the next few years! Though, they need a better stadium.
Fellow Cubs fan. It sucks to see that teams like the Expos whose legacy of developing minor league talent and building from the ground up having to sell their franchise while clubs like the Yankees who do nothing but buy championships have 27 pennants flying around their park. Being a Cubs fan, you can feel the heartbreak of the Montreal fanbase being so dedicated while people like Yankees fans, who are the least patient and most superficial fans of any sport, get the title of the greatest fans in the world.
Matches_Malone saddest story in baseball for sure. The team they had, could compete with any one in today's game. Best uncrowded champions in my book.
Baseball needs to be back in Montreal. Yes, we know hockey is the national sport, but they know their baseball, too. All the Expos needed was a new stadium, and the MLB has two Canadian franchises in big markets. But the government didn't want to finance it. And the fire sale was terrible.
shawn bishop Each division currently has five teams already (in each league). So the only way everything would be completely even would be to add four new expansion franchises: two in the AL and two in the NL, bringing the total to 32 and avoiding any further scheduling discrepancies or disadvantages within MLB.
Though the expos need to return, its only if a stadium can be built and either a relocated team comes into Montreal which is possible though not as possible as not meaning that they will most likely not come back. I want them to come back but the Canadian dollar is to low for the MLB to come back to Montreal in the next few years and a relocation may make less money than in Montreal though the fans need a team.
With the way that fanbase alienated the team in the late 90s and early 2000's baseball should NEVER return to Montreal. Coming home from school knowing the Braves had to play the Expos in Montreal was one of the most depressing things to watch on TV for me. Some high school football teams averaged more fans than the Expos did during that time period. Like the Blue Jays, when the team sucks, no one will show up.
Watching this I better understand why there is a lot of love for the Red Sox up in Canada and Montreal... and as a Red Sox fan, I really appreciate the Expos more than ever. 2004 for us, was perhaps what your 1994 might have been, and Pedro who is very special to us in Boston, showed he was forever an Expo by honoring the fans there in his pinnacle moment... reminds me of when Ray Bourque came back to Boston after winning The Cup with the Avalanche to pay tribute to the fans. Classy guys... I really hope you guys get your team back, I think Montreal will show them a lot of love and a new era of baseball can begin...
Yea it would be nice to have a team up ther agan but the MLB alredy has 60 teams. Thay would have to do a nother expation and that means thay would have to do another expation for bothe leags and dos the MLB realy need more teams? We alredy have to manny teams as it is with all the expation teams thay created back in the 90s. And good luck tryen to get a pre existing franchise to move up ther. Unless you know of a franchise thats curently struggling wer ther at right now. I can only think of one and thats Miami. Ther the only team in the east thats struggiling to make revineu at this point and even thay just got ther new place. So we know ther not going anywer. So yea it would be nice but i just dont see it happening.
@@johnwray9890 MLB doesn't have too many teams. There are only 30 teams. For scheduling this was a bad number because two leagues of 15 means you have to have an inter-league game every series all season long. After the last expansion there were 16 National League and 14 American League teams for this exact reason. This was only a result of MLB playoff expansion and division realignment that followed. MLB went from 2 to 4 and now to 5 playoff teams. The MLB would actually benefit from 2 more teams which would allow them to create a NFL style division set up. 16 teams per league which is an even number makes scheduling easier and 4 division of 4 teams is would allow MLB to add a 6th playoff team to each league which would make the league money. You would have the top 2 division winners in each league get a bye which the other 2 division winners have home field in a best of 3 versus the wild cards. This would make baseball alot of revenue. The thing is for a league (the owners) to benefit from that revenue the team that is added will have to have as much value as the average team in the league (at least revenue neutral) as far as TV money goes. This is so that the added playoff money isn't drained or offset by a team that is in bad TV market for regular season games. This is an area Montreal has and likely will have an advantage in regardless of how many fans come to the game. The owner of the Yankees or Red Soxs doesn't care if the owner of the Expos is selling tickets or not. What they care about is if the Expos are hurting TV contracts. Because Montreal is the 2nd biggest city in Canada and would be the 5th biggest city in the USA if it was in the USA they have a very big market that is obviously untapped (only 1 other team in whole nation of Canada). If Montreal has a baseball team that whoever broadcasts baseball games up there will pay MLB more money for the rights to broadcast the games again knowing games with a hometown team are going to get higher ratings. There is a perfectly logical reason Montreal is high on all the list for the next expansion and its not because the rich owners of the Yankees or Red Soxs want to heal the wounds of Expos fans. A new Montreal team might succeed or might fail but that is on whoever the prospective owner would be. If they lose revenue again for extended period of time then the new owner may move the team or sell the team or do whatever he wants but that gamble / business decision effects the pocketbooks of 1 guy and thats the new owner. I would bet that MLB will expand 2 more teams in the next decade. With a stadium in place, 1 will definitely be in Montreal for the reasons I listed. Only thing that could derail them is not having a Stadium which the owners will view as very important for expansion teams and is one of the main reasons teams relocate.
Every time I hear Kate Hynes say "Canadian Team, and nobody cared." it absolutely breaks by heart. Montreal deserves a Team as well as a Title. 94' Expos! Nos Amour in my heart.
What a truly awful time to strike, there were dynasties and start ups, newcomers and surprises that year. I think it truly would have been a very exciting year for baseball.
From a Braves fan, they would've won the division over us and probably gone deep maybe even to the World Series they were hot that year until the strike.
Used to love heading to Montreal in summers when two good family friends played there, Jeff Reardon in from 81-86 and then would always make visits when Turk Wendell came in with the Cubs and Mets. Can remember sitting about 5 seats over from Donald Sutherland several times and have a nice photo together with him. Long live Les Expos!!
prior to 94, I didn't understand my grandpa when he told me the story on the exit of the Giants and Dodgers from NY in 1957, I lived and I'm still alive today, and this story made me understand my grandpa. as a baseball fan who roots for the Yankees, it breaks my heart to relive this tragedy of the best team in 1994 on this video. now I understand how my grandpa felt in 1957. I'm in tears writing this. Expos for ever!!! elb < team hat logo
As a Phillies Fan I Miss The Expos Big Time I Hope They Return Baseball To Montreal Someday With a Newer Nicer Stadium in Downtown Montreal Like The Bell Centre Home of The NHL's Montreal Canadiens is!
Well Winnipeg did both fight to keep, and get their team back, which Montreal never really did it seems. But I do really hope they'll return, along with the Quebec Nordiques one day for that matter too.
Eh I don't know about that. There are still a lot of factors to go into that Expos fans refuse to look at. Such as the wild card would have been played and Atlanta would have been there probably. They have to get past the braves in the post season. Don't forget the powerful Cleveland indians and Yankees coming up.
To see Bud Selig say “ this was disappointing and we didn’t want them to leave is such a slap in face, there’s a reason he gets booed soundly when he attends the HOF induction ceremonies”
It kills me for the better part of the last 12 years the Ray's have had a pretty competitive team with multiple postseason berths and even winning a pennant in 08, but they never have fan support! Hell during exciting pennant races in September they may have 12,000 at the dumpydome and the team deserves so much better! Move the Ray's to Montreal and I guarantee the fans there will appreciate them! P.S. after the Ray's move there change thier name to the Expos!
Brando: Why should any government build a stadium for a private business? If Loria or Brochu were willing and able to fund even a decent part of a new stadium, they might have gotten one. Neither were.
like many others I'm sure, i cried at the last Expos game. I had season tickets every year until I moved out West. but even then, I'd watch them on tv until they left
A crying shame! The 94' Expos has to be the best team in baseball history to had never played in the playoffs due to the baseball strike that year. They were really loaded with great players and their farm system produced a Who's Who of great players throughout their existence!
I've lived my whole life in Detroit and I am a die-hard Tiger's fan through good times and bad and also this current tough rebuild, but with that said, MLB has to bring baseball back to Montreal. Montreal is a great and passionate sports town! Even though there was some thin years at Olympic stadium with attendence, there was still a passionate Expos fan base! There were years when they drew more fans then the Yankees. Unfortunately they had the worse stadium in baseball and shame on everyone involved that a new stadium was never built. Also the lockout of 94 screwed the Expos, which they never recovered from! Bottom line bring MLB back to Montreal Quebec and have a bluejay expos rivalry!
As a Braves Fan, we shared the same division and it doesn't feel right that they got relocated to Washington. When it happened, i felt awful for the fans in Montreal, Quebec knowing that baseball would probably never come back to Quebec. And I'll say that it's time for the fans in Montreal to get their team back it feels hollow not seeing them with a team.
The rivalry we had vs the Braves, no-one will remember except Expos and Braves fans! We always had races to the end for the division… How many Pedro Martinez vs Greg Maddux matchups did we have over the years! (Biting our fingernails over which team will win the game 2-1) … Thanks for acknowledging our club! I’ll always be an Expos fan!
Bud Selig is the most Undeserving Hall of Famer!! He oversaw the only Canceled World Series and he Turned a blind eye to the Steroids in order for the Owners to make $, but then when PR got bad, they screwed over the players. Barry Bonds is not in the Hall, but the guy who allowed Bonds to cheat and make billions off the popularity of Home Runs due to roids, then blamed Bonds for the damage to the game! Also, Selig did not want to help keep the Expos in Montreal. He wanted them in Washington.
Mike Youngblood Yeh! I say that too. I'm a DIE HARD METS FAN! I suffer different problems because the Wilpons did shady business with Madoff and then demolished Shea Stadium. Tell me more of what else Bud Selig has done to ruin baseball.
YOUR WRONG McGWIRE GOT THE SHIT END OF THE STICK HES NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME!!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR HIM AND SOSA BASEBALL WOULDN'T BE WHERE IT IS RIGHT NOW! DONT FORGET BASEBALL JUST ENDED THAT STRIKE JUST 4 YEARS PRIOR. BASEBALL WAS IN THE TANK THEY ALONE BROUGHT BACK THE FANS! AND IF ANY OF YOU SAY YOU WERE NOT CHEERING THAT CHASE ON YOUR LYING TO YOURSELF...
@@roybal1975 McGwire should probably be in the hall but lets be real Bonds case is MUCH better. Gold Gloves, 40/40 club, single season HR record, career HR record, all time leader in walks. Again McGwire is arguable hall of famer but to compare him to Bonds? come on. What he did to "save the game" with the HR chase is great and all but there were other things going on he didnt do it single handedly. Birth of Yankees dynasty and Cal Ripken breaking Gerhig streak are two that come to mind. And even if you give all the credit to McGwire instead it still doesnt make him more deserving than Bonds as that isn't factored into Hall of Fame induction. McGwire isn't even in top 3 screwed which is Bonds, Clemens and Rose whose records are astronomical compared to McGwire. They say letting in "roids" or Rose would tarnish the hall of fame but the hall of fame is actually tarnished by not having those guys in. How can the all time HR leader, all time Hits leader and pitcher with most Cy Youngs ever not be in the Hall of Fame???
The Expos WILL RETURN!! I have faith. just need the Rays and the A's to get their stadiums started. MLB needs to add Montreal and either Carolina/Nashville/Vegas or Vancouver. Grow the game
I have so much love and respect for the Expos. Them playing in Olympic Stadium was so different from the other stadiums that I thought it was so cool. I love their logo. Great colors. The Expos definitely need to come back.
I'm a Sox fan, was only a year old when the Expos were legit.. But dam the logo and uniforms are snappy. If the Red Sox didn't make the playoffs I root for the Expos.
I'm an Atlanta Braves fan. Both the 1993 Montreal Expos and the 1994 Montreal Expos scared me to death. Because they were so good and talented. The 1994 Montreal Expos were a great team. I don't think the Atlanta Braves win the 1995 World Series, if the strike didn't happen. I believe the Montreal Expos would have been an incredibly, difficult roadblock to overcome.
The situation in Montreal should and could have been handled better. MLB clearly wanted the Expos wiped off the earth and made little effort to keep the team alive and in Montreal. Heck only a court decision in Minnesota, that said that the Twins (who MLB was also looking to terminate) had to play out their lease on the Metrodome, kept MLB from getting what they wanted. Hopefully the showings at the exhibition games at Olympic Stadium will convince MLB to bring baseball back to Montreal. Why don't they move the Rays there. They'll probably get more love and appreciation there than in Tampa Bay.
I’m a Dodger fan but, if the lockout didn’t exist in 1994 there’s a chance that the Expos will win the NL Division and maybe they will win the World Series. And I think they are still in Montreal if the Expos will win the championship.
In 1987 the NFL did the player strike but they also had replacement players if they would have done that in Major League Baseball in 1994 we wouldn't have that problem.
1994 was the season that made me stop watching baseball. The steroid era and the owners hypocrisy and complicity in that era led me to not come back...
One of the things I noticed in an article I read about the team, one man in the front office was blamed for dismantling their superstar roster in 1995. What people forget is that they had to, they lost so much money because of the shortened '94 season that I strongly believe had they not made those moves, '95 would have been the last year they existed, they would not have survived for 1996. They were lucky enough to survive until 2004 so you have to give them credit. If they are going to have a team again, they need everybody you saw in this video that worked the front office back in those same positions and Moises Alou take his dads place as manager (the elder Alou is 82). One of the things I didn't like was that blame was placed on Claude Brochu when the new stadium deal fell through, it wasn't his fault, he did everything in his power to make it happen but he was over ruled by the government. Another big thing I read was coments made by the fans that had the owners not been cheapskates, they would still have their star players. What those fans didn't realize at the time, the salary cap comes from the MLB not the owners pockets. Those hostile feelings towards that subject is what made the MLB believe that Montreal didn't care about Baseball any more. The whole front office staff in the '90s did everything they could to the best of their abilities which is all you can ask of them and they get punished for it by the fans. I really hope Montreal gets another team I really do but if they are going to have another shot at greatness, they need that old staff including those the fans ridiculed. Rehire the broadcasters too, they are still today as they were when they worked for the team eager to get the story right about their team for the fans. This is the longest comment I have ever made but I hope that my point gets across to who it needs to.
Travis M Simpson I agree with you completely. I also disagree with the fans that said they would have automatically won the world series. That is a disrespect to a lot of teams. They forget to look at the wildcard that year which probably would have Atlanta in there. As well as the powerful Indians in the American League.
It's not automatic they would have won, but that was by far and away their best chance to win. While the Indians were powerful, they were still contending with the White Sox, who were leading the division. And the Expos wouldn't have been rattled by the Braves. They knew how to beat them. Not to mention, we know the track record of Atlanta's pitching staff in the playoffs. And keep in mind, the Expos best players were willing to take less than market value to stay, but management wasn't interested, and still ordered the fire sale.
Brochu was an undercapitalised owner... he only became Managing Partner because Bronfman gave him his ownership share as a thank you on leaving. He had no money to put into a stadium and no money to put into playing talent. The Quebec gov't was closing schools and hospitals to try and reduce their budget deficit, they had no business putting money into a professional sports stadium. The Expos did not make money... the "glory" years we all remember? They maxed out at just over 28k avg attendance. I loved them then and wish they could come back... but it's not realistic unless Bell Media is a major partner (Rogers owns the Jays)... the only way a new team could work is if a media partner either overpays for broadcast rights long term or is a part owner. Even at that, you are going to need 30-35k in the stands EVERY night to make a new team work. The Expos have never had that... even eliminating their last 5 or 6 desperate lame duck seasons, their avg attendance from 1969-1995 is about 20k. The general economics of baseball are much better now than in the early 2000s, but that doesn't change the fact that an Expos II will generate at least $50m less locally than 25-26 other MLB markets can. That is money that other clubs can spend, but Montreal, Tampa, Miami and a couple of others could not.
@@ShmuelWeintraub Just now saw this, with a weak Canadian dollar, Bringing back the Expos or an NBA team in Vancouver would be a tall order but since NHL has a Canada assistance program, do you think MLB and the NBA could adopt such a policy?
MLB did not want a Canadian team to win the world series 3 years in a row... the 94 expos.. fantastic team.... came right on the heels of the back to back Jays championships... that was an issue.
the Expos will not return to Montreal unless a new baseball specific stadium is built, the Quebec Government says they want $ 220 million in renovations to Olympic Stadium so a new baseball specific stadium will have to be privately financed
Niederman,It rains a lot in Tampa. They need a "stupid domed stadium"..Just like they will need one in Montreal if the Expos return. April & October baseball is not pleasant.
From 1987 until they left for Washington, the Expos never finished in the top 10 in the NL in attendance, finishing last many times. Even in their two big years 1993 (13th) and 1994 (11th) they couldn't draw
10 years after the Expos never got the opportunity, they moved the Washington, D.C. and 25 years after the strike ended the Expos opportunity, the Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series Championship as the Nationals avenged the Expos' lost opportunity from 1994 because of the strike.
My dad loves the montreal expos. Every time he watches this documentary, he gets emotional. Back in the day, he would take the greyhound from ottawa to montreal and watch expos at Jarry Park .
Tragedy struck both cities in different ways. The Montreal Expos should've won and were destined to win the 1994 World Series. The same way you could say the 1992-93 Toronto Maple Leafs were destined to win the Stanley Cup. Yet, both teams were derailed by underhanded tactics, and I won't reiterate them because we all know them too well. At least Toronto can say that the Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, and Montreal can say that in 1993 they hoisted their 24th Stanley Cup - a record that still stands.
The minute the talent was sold, Also the team right after and then multiple owners. I have to say bye bye Expos. You need Hero's and legends to make a team.
The Expos will return to Montreal......and so will the history of the original team. I think there was always a good fan base for Major League Baseball, but circumstances that were shown in this documentary prevented that from happening. Then-Mayor Jean Drapeau didn't fulfill his promise to Bronfman on constructing an MLB stadium for the Expos because of the spending binges for the Olympics and Expo 67. How will any future Expos ballpark be funded? The negative studies and media coverage over publicly funded stadiums remain an ongoing battle in the United States and Canada also. I can only relate to the loss of the Expos but on a far smaller scale when the former ownership of the Detroit Pistons, specifically Bill Davidson's widowed wife Karen, sold the WNBA's Detroit Shock to a partnership of Oklahoma businessmen in 2009........which the same team was approved to relocate to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and playing in an area with less than 10,000 capacity. Whatever remained of the WNBA Detroit team was purged one and a half years in Tulsa, and the Tulsa Shock only made the postseason in 2015 that same season the relocation to the Metroplex was approved. The Shock in Detroit were doing damn well that started with a Cinderella season in 2003 with a championship despite speculation of folding or relocating to San Antonio after a league worst 9-23 season in 2002. They made the playoffs from 2003-2009 and won two WNBA championships in 2006 and 2008 including a playoff run that ended in the 2009 conference finals.
+BrownBrother27 i never knew the pistons fan base was hurt as much as the expos. If you liked this documentary dont forget to subscribe! ive got a lot more expos content where that came from
I can't speak for the entire Pistons fan base. I'm only speaking for myself. I stopped liking the Pistons for some time because of the Karen Davidson's decision to sell the Detroit Shock. She is Jeffrey Loria for me with the ex-Tulsa Shock Coach and General Manager Nolan Richardson as Claude Brochu. Richardson conducted a "40 Minutes of Hell" sale which was a bust because the "40 Minutes of Hell" style of play didn't adapt well into professional basketball. Key players from the Detroit team didn't join the team in Tulsa for various reasons. I will subscribe to your channel. :-)
+Mark Guerrero My dislike has faded in the last couple years or so. Karen Davidson & majority now-Dallas Wings owner Bill Cameron are Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon respectively to me. My contempt for Karen Davidson and Bill Cameron mirror those from Seattle Supersonics fans and Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon, and Howard Schultz.
Sure. But even if they had won, could they have kept that team together? It's not very likely given the revenue generating limitations in Montreal. Even if they got their "free" $250m stadium, they'd still need 30k fans ready and willing to pay to fill it 80 nights a year. Expos fans were never willing to turn up in large numbers, unfortunately.
@@ShmuelWeintraub That's totally untrue. During winning seasons, the Expos never had a problem filling up the stadium. It was just so disheartening to see the team dismantled in 1995, and yes there was very little interest in the final years.
@@dbo514 : Many people "think" that. But they (and you) are wrong. The Expos never came close to filling the stadium with any level of frequency. Check MLB attendance on Baseball Reference... I'll give you the highlights re: Montreal. The highest avg attendance the team EVER had was 1979-82, when they averaged 26k, 27k, 28.5k and 28.5k respectively. In those years, they were well above MLB average (the early 80s were a low point for MLB attendance as a whole). After that, the Expos averaged over 21,000 fans only THREE times (1987, 1989 and 1994). In the so called "greatest" season, 1994, the Expos averaged just 22,390... for the self described "BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL". In 1992 and '93, while the best team in baseball was being built (and while baseball interest in Canada was high, thanks to the Jays WS wins) the team averaged 20,607 and 20,265 fans per game. In the "new stadium bump" years when they moved from Jarry to then new Olympic stadium, the Expos drew an avg of 17,701 and 17,617 (both around 2k below then MLB average). I don't know if you were around for the Expos heyday or not, but if you were you do not remember the reality of the Expos so called "golden" years. The fans who came to see them loved them... but there were never enough of them.
@@ShmuelWeintraub Montreal had no problem getting fans in there stadium, Well in fact they have more fans than a lot of teams today fill there stadium.
@@overdaedgebroadcasting2220 : Did you not read the numbers I researched and posted a few months ago? Many people "think" the Expos drew well. They did not. Post 1982 (after the first strike), they drew over 21,000 on avg only three times. The 1994 team - regularly referred to as the best in baseball - drew just 22k and change on average. Don't believe me? Here are the actual numbers. Read them and then try and tell me they had great support... www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/attend.shtml Even the very best Expos teams played to (at best) a half empty Olympic stadium. Please don't post crap about their great support if either weren't around for the years they existed or just don't know what the truth is.
The really ironic thing is that if Charles Bronfman had stuck with the franchise, the changes in how baseball managed their economics would have more than compensated him for the sacrifices he made early let alone cultural pride
Sure. But he was losing millions every year. If it took from 1990 until 2008 for MLB's "other revenue streams" to even things out, he could have lost $150-200m just operating the team for that length of time. And that just evens out the financial competition, it doesn't make the Expos a cash spinner. Sad to say, but he made the right financial decision. The only thing that makes me mad is that he gave Brochu such a golden handshake. He should not have been an owner at all, much less managing partner.
I'm a St Louis Cardinals fan but love the Expos and lament '81, '94 and especially the loss of the franchise to Washington DC -- where there is little respect paid to the north-of-the-border legacy of the team.
I always say that the Braves would have likely won a tough NLCS series in 6 games due to their deep starting rotation and playoff experience in 1994. That makes the pain a bit less intense. :) :)
Top Ten: Probably true. There were more than 6 weeks to go in the season when the lockout happened. No-one knows what might have happened in those six weeks, cold streaks, injuries, just plain bad luck. '94 Expos were a great team, but we do not know how the story would have ended if the season had been completed.
Im a lifelong Reds fan and it seems like I saw the Expos at Riverfront Stadium more than anyone else. I'll always remember the skinny guy named Pedro striking out 14 Reds for a shutout, and Vlad throwing out Pat Watkins at third from the right field warning track and hitting 2 long homeruns
It is hard to believe that today marks 20 years that the Expos played their last game in Montreal, this team could have been more than just a team cursed by the '94 Strike. Gosh, I miss the Expos.
I always thought it was a bunch of French fans more interested in hockey, but they had good attendance when the teams were good just like any other city.
It's sad that the new ballpark did not happen. With MLB looking to expand, I hope there is a group that will look to bring MLB back & get the province to agree to build a new downtown ballpark. I have no doubt Montreal would reestablish itself as one of the best atmospheres for MLB baseball.
Either an expansion team or a relocated team, like the Rays. They're a very good team that still can't draw fans and they can't make money. Those player would love getting the fan support in Montreal.
Even to this day there have been a bunch of What Ifs. What if Andre Dawson caught the ball by the wall in Game 5 of the '81 NLCS? What if the MLB didn't have to go on strike in '94? There have been times when the Expos have been pushed to the side, and sometimes having to take a backseat to the Canadiens, which is unfortunate because the Expos played some really good baseball over the years.
I feel for the fans of Montreal and have every right to be pissed. After the 93 season norm green moved our team from Minnesota to dallas.i am now a wild fan but wouldn't watch a game the first few years of there existence but came around.
What's crazy that the city of Montreal renovated Olympic stadium and still use it for events but they couldn't renevate the stadium when the expos were there was what really ticked everybody off
The thing that really drives home how good the Expos could have been was that they went 88-74 in 1996! Mark Grudzilienek (however you spell it) had over 200 hits and hit 300. Henry Rodriguez hit 36 dingers out of nowhere. Ken Hill went 16-10 with the Rangerzzz that year with a 3.63 e.r.a (which was 45 percent better than league average when accounting for ballpark). If they could have had Hill and Wettland for 96, they could have won it again.
If the strike had never happened, i believe the leagues history would have dramatically changed. Buck Showalter remains the manager of the Yankees meaning that Joe Torre may not manage the Yankees. The Red Sox never acquire Pedro Martinez and remain cursed. Matt Williams may have hit 62-64 home runs, Tony Quinn might have batted .400, the Braves don’t win it all and Bobby Cox may not be in the HOF and have a WS ring (Marquis Grissom doesn’t come to ATL). Who knows what teams get effected the most had the strike not had occurred.
Awesome video. The 94 Expos were a legitimate beast in MLB. Sucks it ended how it did
As a Nicaraguan-American, I used to love the Expos because of Dennis Martinez. He was and still is a legend in my birthplace in Managua. Love watching Expos clips, even though I am a true Met fan. This was a great video.
F- Martinez
As an Orioles fan, guys a legend for helping us win 1983
I like the logo. Pretty simple but bold colors which is what makes old style jerseys better to me at least.
They were the best team on Ken Griffey Jr Baseball for super Nintendo
@MANCHESTER UNITED get theee fucccccckkkk out lollllll
@@franciscosaenzc this dudes everywhere. Someone must have forgotten to tell him that the USA doesnt care about soccer. Its a bore fest watching abunch of ppl run around for 90 minutes just for it to end jn a 0to0 tie. America likes non boring sports, thats why MLS is our lowest pro league cuz soccer is boring af and the rest of the world is boring af and rhats why ppl across glove dont care watching it. But here qhere we have a choice, no one chooses soccer. Football, Basketball, Baseball are where the money's at for a good reason
I love the Expos.
@M are you trying to convince yourself or everyone else? For a soccer fan you sure spend a lot of time watching baseball vids 😅
I'm a Cubs fan, but for some reason, I always had a soft spot for the Expos. I hope they return within the next few years! Though, they need a better stadium.
TAFARockWarrior97 we all did, how can we not? to see a awesome squad playing the game we love. elb for ever
yep and Tim raines was cool
Fellow Cubs fan. It sucks to see that teams like the Expos whose legacy of developing minor league talent and building from the ground up having to sell their franchise while clubs like the Yankees who do nothing but buy championships have 27 pennants flying around their park. Being a Cubs fan, you can feel the heartbreak of the Montreal fanbase being so dedicated while people like Yankees fans, who are the least patient and most superficial fans of any sport, get the title of the greatest fans in the world.
Matches_Malone saddest story in baseball for sure. The team they had, could compete with any one in today's game. Best uncrowded champions in my book.
Well, I'm a Yankee fan, but not how you describe most, I'm also a baseball fan that appreciates great teams.
Baseball needs to be back in Montreal. Yes, we know hockey is the national sport, but they know their baseball, too. All the Expos needed was a new stadium, and the MLB has two Canadian franchises in big markets. But the government didn't want to finance it. And the fire sale was terrible.
Specterling Rob manfred has hinted expansion!
Specterling I agree, Expos should be back, but as a expansion team in the NL East. So we have the same amount as the NL Central.
shawn bishop Each division currently has five teams already (in each league). So the only way everything would be completely even would be to add four new expansion franchises: two in the AL and two in the NL, bringing the total to 32 and avoiding any further scheduling discrepancies or disadvantages within MLB.
Though the expos need to return, its only if a stadium can be built and either a relocated team comes into Montreal which is possible though not as possible as not meaning that they will most likely not come back. I want them to come back but the Canadian dollar is to low for the MLB to come back to Montreal in the next few years and a relocation may make less money than in Montreal though the fans need a team.
With the way that fanbase alienated the team in the late 90s and early 2000's baseball should NEVER return to Montreal. Coming home from school knowing the Braves had to play the Expos in Montreal was one of the most depressing things to watch on TV for me. Some high school football teams averaged more fans than the Expos did during that time period. Like the Blue Jays, when the team sucks, no one will show up.
Watching this I better understand why there is a lot of love for the Red Sox up in Canada and Montreal... and as a Red Sox fan, I really appreciate the Expos more than ever. 2004 for us, was perhaps what your 1994 might have been, and Pedro who is very special to us in Boston, showed he was forever an Expo by honoring the fans there in his pinnacle moment... reminds me of when Ray Bourque came back to Boston after winning The Cup with the Avalanche to pay tribute to the fans. Classy guys... I really hope you guys get your team back, I think Montreal will show them a lot of love and a new era of baseball can begin...
Epic Story I grew up in upstate ny, so I was around a lot of Yankees Red Sox and Twins fans, I never really appreciated this team until they were gone
Yea it would be nice to have a team up ther agan but the MLB alredy has 60 teams. Thay would have to do a nother expation and that means thay would have to do another expation for bothe leags and dos the MLB realy need more teams? We alredy have to manny teams as it is with all the expation teams thay created back in the 90s. And good luck tryen to get a pre existing franchise to move up ther. Unless you know of a franchise thats curently struggling wer ther at right now. I can only think of one and thats Miami. Ther the only team in the east thats struggiling to make revineu at this point and even thay just got ther new place. So we know ther not going anywer. So yea it would be nice but i just dont see it happening.
If I wasn't a Red Sox fan, I'd be an Expos fan. I still have a grotesque soft spot in my heart for them.
@@johnwray9890 MLB doesn't have too many teams. There are only 30 teams. For scheduling this was a bad number because two leagues of 15 means you have to have an inter-league game every series all season long. After the last expansion there were 16 National League and 14 American League teams for this exact reason. This was only a result of MLB playoff expansion and division realignment that followed. MLB went from 2 to 4 and now to 5 playoff teams. The MLB would actually benefit from 2 more teams which would allow them to create a NFL style division set up. 16 teams per league which is an even number makes scheduling easier and 4 division of 4 teams is would allow MLB to add a 6th playoff team to each league which would make the league money. You would have the top 2 division winners in each league get a bye which the other 2 division winners have home field in a best of 3 versus the wild cards. This would make baseball alot of revenue.
The thing is for a league (the owners) to benefit from that revenue the team that is added will have to have as much value as the average team in the league (at least revenue neutral) as far as TV money goes. This is so that the added playoff money isn't drained or offset by a team that is in bad TV market for regular season games. This is an area Montreal has and likely will have an advantage in regardless of how many fans come to the game. The owner of the Yankees or Red Soxs doesn't care if the owner of the Expos is selling tickets or not. What they care about is if the Expos are hurting TV contracts. Because Montreal is the 2nd biggest city in Canada and would be the 5th biggest city in the USA if it was in the USA they have a very big market that is obviously untapped (only 1 other team in whole nation of Canada). If Montreal has a baseball team that whoever broadcasts baseball games up there will pay MLB more money for the rights to broadcast the games again knowing games with a hometown team are going to get higher ratings.
There is a perfectly logical reason Montreal is high on all the list for the next expansion and its not because the rich owners of the Yankees or Red Soxs want to heal the wounds of Expos fans. A new Montreal team might succeed or might fail but that is on whoever the prospective owner would be. If they lose revenue again for extended period of time then the new owner may move the team or sell the team or do whatever he wants but that gamble / business decision effects the pocketbooks of 1 guy and thats the new owner.
I would bet that MLB will expand 2 more teams in the next decade. With a stadium in place, 1 will definitely be in Montreal for the reasons I listed. Only thing that could derail them is not having a Stadium which the owners will view as very important for expansion teams and is one of the main reasons teams relocate.
Every time I hear Kate Hynes say "Canadian Team, and nobody cared." it absolutely breaks by heart.
Montreal deserves a Team as well as a Title. 94' Expos! Nos Amour in my heart.
The 1994 Baseball Strike took away the dream from the People of Montreal
They would have gotten a beatdown by the 94 White Sox. Get over it, as a Chicago fan I have.
Not likely. The Yankees would have cleared the WS before that.
The Yankees had their tragedy the next year against the Miracle Mariners.
What a truly awful time to strike, there were dynasties and start ups, newcomers and surprises that year. I think it truly would have been a very exciting year for baseball.
From a Braves fan, they would've won the division over us and probably gone deep maybe even to the World Series they were hot that year until the strike.
Used to love heading to Montreal in summers when two good family friends played there, Jeff Reardon in from 81-86 and then would always make visits when Turk Wendell came in with the Cubs and Mets. Can remember sitting about 5 seats over from Donald Sutherland several times and have a nice photo together with him. Long live Les Expos!!
prior to 94, I didn't understand my grandpa when he told me the story on the exit of the Giants and Dodgers from NY in 1957, I lived and I'm still alive today, and this story made me understand my grandpa. as a baseball fan who roots for the Yankees, it breaks my heart to relive this tragedy of the best team in 1994 on this video. now I understand how my grandpa felt in 1957. I'm in tears writing this. Expos for ever!!! elb < team hat logo
Manuel Reyes Millan the Expos' struggles really actually helped me understand the misfortunes of the Seattle Pilots
To be a Expo fan since the beginning can have this team move to my hometown in DC is a major honor for me
As a Dodger fan I hope Montreal gets another Expos team ps this was a tearjerker
I'm a yankees fan but there's something about the expos
villianboarder 84 we could have faced them in 1994. Mattingly could have played in a World Series too.
I bet it would have felt something like what the Raptors felt like in the 2019 playoffs. Just something different and special.
Yankees fan here also and I agree would love to have seen the expos win it all and still be in the league
@@JJJerryrum Me too.
Go jays
The talent those Expos had.
Randy Johnson, Pedro, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, Wetteland.
its weird because im a die hard Jays fan but i remember being proud and routing for the Expos in the NL
It's kind of the same thing with Me, I am a diehard yanks fan but I still root for the mets as well
And yet your channel name is Expos Classics XD
@Daniuel(open): It would've been nice to have a Canadian three-peat... Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993, and then the Expos in 1994.
As a Phillies Fan I Miss The Expos Big Time I Hope They Return Baseball To Montreal Someday With a Newer Nicer Stadium in Downtown Montreal Like The Bell Centre Home of The NHL's Montreal Canadiens is!
I see so many similarities between the Expos and the original Winnipeg Jets. Hope they get their team back like Winnipeg did
Well Winnipeg did both fight to keep, and get their team back, which Montreal never really did it seems. But I do really hope they'll return, along with the Quebec Nordiques one day for that matter too.
@@freakyfornash From what I heard in recent years a lot of people in Montreal would welcome back an MLB team.
@@seanyiscubsfan1 And they'd no doubt still have one to this day, had if the 94 strike never happened I'm sure too.
I’m a Mets fan and I enjoyed watching the Expos and I miss them, I hope Montreal gets their team back.
Nice Video I am writing from Venezuela and I agree the Expos should of Won the 1994 World Series, but the Baseball Strike took away that dream from us
Eh I don't know about that. There are still a lot of factors to go into that Expos fans refuse to look at. Such as the wild card would have been played and Atlanta would have been there probably. They have to get past the braves in the post season. Don't forget the powerful Cleveland indians and Yankees coming up.
To see Bud Selig say “ this was disappointing and we didn’t want them to leave is such a slap in face, there’s a reason he gets booed soundly when he attends the HOF induction ceremonies”
No kidding, he stole the Pilots out of Seattle to become the Brewers.
Who did he say gets booed?
Man, i'd cried after this season. They were world series bound, and got robbed, and never recovered and it still hurts today
It kills me for the better part of the last 12 years the Ray's have had a pretty competitive team with multiple postseason berths and even winning a pennant in 08, but they never have fan support! Hell during exciting pennant races in September they may have 12,000 at the dumpydome and the team deserves so much better! Move the Ray's to Montreal and I guarantee the fans there will appreciate them! P.S. after the Ray's move there change thier name to the Expos!
0-16
I still can't believe the Canadian government wouldn't build a new ballpark, that's BS
The weak loonie hit the franchise pretty hard and was the main reason why the team moved.
Brando: Why should any government build a stadium for a private business? If Loria or Brochu were willing and able to fund even a decent part of a new stadium, they might have gotten one. Neither were.
like many others I'm sure, i cried at the last Expos game. I had season tickets every year until I moved out West. but even then, I'd watch them on tv until they left
A crying shame! The 94' Expos has to be the best team in baseball history to had never played in the playoffs due to the baseball strike that year. They were really loaded with great players and their farm system produced a Who's Who of great players throughout their existence!
I've lived my whole life in Detroit and I am a die-hard Tiger's fan through good times and bad and also this current tough rebuild, but with that said, MLB has to bring baseball back to Montreal. Montreal is a great and passionate sports town! Even though there was some thin years at Olympic stadium with attendence, there was still a passionate Expos fan base! There were years when they drew more fans then the Yankees. Unfortunately they had the worse stadium in baseball and shame on everyone involved that a new stadium was never built. Also the lockout of 94 screwed the Expos, which they never recovered from! Bottom line bring MLB back to Montreal Quebec and have a bluejay expos rivalry!
As a phillies fan the expos were awesome!
As a Braves Fan, we shared the same division and it doesn't feel right that they got relocated to Washington. When it happened, i felt awful for the fans in Montreal, Quebec knowing that baseball would probably never come back to Quebec. And I'll say that it's time for the fans in Montreal to get their team back it feels hollow not seeing them with a team.
The rivalry we had vs the Braves, no-one will remember except Expos and Braves fans! We always had races to the end for the division… How many Pedro Martinez vs Greg Maddux matchups did we have over the years! (Biting our fingernails over which team will win the game 2-1) … Thanks for acknowledging our club! I’ll always be an Expos fan!
I LOVED THAT DAMN TEAM SO MUCH....MY HEART JUST GOT BROKEN A SECOND TIME WATCHING THAT VIDEO
Bud Selig is the most Undeserving Hall of Famer!! He oversaw the only Canceled World Series and he Turned a blind eye to the Steroids in order for the Owners to make $, but then when PR got bad, they screwed over the players. Barry Bonds is not in the Hall, but the guy who allowed Bonds to cheat and make billions off the popularity of Home Runs due to roids, then blamed Bonds for the damage to the game! Also, Selig did not want to help keep the Expos in Montreal. He wanted them in Washington.
Mike Youngblood Yeh! I say that too. I'm a DIE HARD METS FAN! I suffer different problems because the Wilpons did shady business with Madoff and then demolished Shea Stadium.
Tell me more of what else Bud Selig has done to ruin baseball.
YOUR WRONG McGWIRE GOT THE SHIT END OF THE STICK HES NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME!!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR HIM AND SOSA BASEBALL WOULDN'T BE WHERE IT IS RIGHT NOW! DONT FORGET BASEBALL JUST ENDED THAT STRIKE JUST 4 YEARS PRIOR. BASEBALL WAS IN THE TANK THEY ALONE BROUGHT BACK THE FANS! AND IF ANY OF YOU SAY YOU WERE NOT CHEERING THAT CHASE ON YOUR LYING TO YOURSELF...
@@roybal1975 McGwire should probably be in the hall but lets be real Bonds case is MUCH better. Gold Gloves, 40/40 club, single season HR record, career HR record, all time leader in walks. Again McGwire is arguable hall of famer but to compare him to Bonds? come on. What he did to "save the game" with the HR chase is great and all but there were other things going on he didnt do it single handedly. Birth of Yankees dynasty and Cal Ripken breaking Gerhig streak are two that come to mind. And even if you give all the credit to McGwire instead it still doesnt make him more deserving than Bonds as that isn't factored into Hall of Fame induction.
McGwire isn't even in top 3 screwed which is Bonds, Clemens and Rose whose records are astronomical compared to McGwire. They say letting in "roids" or Rose would tarnish the hall of fame but the hall of fame is actually tarnished by not having those guys in. How can the all time HR leader, all time Hits leader and pitcher with most Cy Youngs ever not be in the Hall of Fame???
He also never acted on Pete Rose’s reinstatement attempts
He wanted 2 things-
A team in DC
His Brewers to get an expanded media market.
He got 1, the other was ruined by the 2002 twins
The Expos WILL RETURN!! I have faith. just need the Rays and the A's to get their stadiums started. MLB needs to add Montreal and either Carolina/Nashville/Vegas or Vancouver. Grow the game
Prince Storm Rays are getting close to moving to Ybor
Carolina for sure
New Orleans and Indianapolis need to be in that mix also.
No after the Nationals won in 2019.
25 years after they were robbed.
I have so much love and respect for the Expos. Them playing in Olympic Stadium was so different from the other stadiums that I thought it was so cool. I love their logo. Great colors. The Expos definitely need to come back.
I'm a Sox fan, was only a year old when the Expos were legit.. But dam the logo and uniforms are snappy. If the Red Sox didn't make the playoffs I root for the Expos.
I hated the 94 baseball season
RIP Gary Carter, Rusty Staub, Dick Williams, Marty Noble.
For me, I will always be an EXPOS FAN ! Great times we had at Le Olympique de stadia.
Expos deserve to be brought back
As a True Blue DODGERS fan, I Respect & Miss Montreal Baseball in the MLB...
BRING BACK THE EXPOS💯
Tony gwynn was hitting 394 when the season was cancelled.
Been 12 years today!!
Long live the Expos
M Champ Vive Les Expos!
Mets fan here. But i love these frickin expos.
It's sad that they never won a World Series.
As the Expos, they were robbed in 1994.
But 25 years later, now as the Nationals, they won.
Red Sox fan but I want baseball back in Montreal. The expos were Canada’s true team !
I'm an Atlanta Braves fan. Both the 1993 Montreal Expos and the 1994 Montreal Expos scared me to death. Because they were so good and talented. The 1994 Montreal Expos were a great team. I don't think the Atlanta Braves win the 1995 World Series, if the strike didn't happen. I believe the Montreal Expos would have been an incredibly, difficult roadblock to overcome.
The situation in Montreal should and could have been handled better. MLB clearly wanted the Expos wiped off the earth and made little effort to keep the team alive and in Montreal. Heck only a court decision in Minnesota, that said that the Twins (who MLB was also looking to terminate) had to play out their lease on the Metrodome, kept MLB from getting what they wanted. Hopefully the showings at the exhibition games at Olympic Stadium will convince MLB to bring baseball back to Montreal. Why don't they move the Rays there. They'll probably get more love and appreciation there than in Tampa Bay.
Nathaniel Levesque Tampa Bay just doesn't have the same baseball love that Montreal Expos
Tampa Bay is actually more of a yankees town then the rays. It shows every time the Yankees go there.
Nathaniel Levesque well said
Ironically the Twins that year pulled a 95 Mariners and made a deep playoffs run
I’m a Dodger fan but, if the lockout didn’t exist in 1994 there’s a chance that the Expos will win the NL Division and maybe they will win the World Series. And I think they are still in Montreal if the Expos will win the championship.
Reminds me of the Seattle SuperSonics
Tony Gwynn was on pace for .400 too
Rip Gary Carter man this document came out a year before he passed away
I won't be surprised if MLB Productions, Inc. creates another Triumph and Tragedy video for the Oakland Athletics.
I still have my cap after all these years. So many great players.
I was so angry that the Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019, I felt Montreal was robbed and frankly wish we still had the Expos.
In 1987 the NFL did the player strike but they also had replacement players if they would have done that in Major League Baseball in 1994 we wouldn't have that problem.
1994 was the season that made me stop watching baseball. The steroid era and the owners hypocrisy and complicity in that era led me to not come back...
Here after the Nats won! The nats won not the expos bring our team back
I’m a Red Sox fan and I’m very glad that you guys won it. Didn’t really like the Astros then or even really now
A quarter of a century later, they finally won a World Series, although...., but still...., oh well
It was nice to hear Delino Deshields name. Especially as a Rangers fan with his son on the team.
they were the best team in 94
padres
One of the things I noticed in an article I read about the team, one man in the front office was blamed for dismantling their superstar roster in 1995. What people forget is that they had to, they lost so much money because of the shortened '94 season that I strongly believe had they not made those moves, '95 would have been the last year they existed, they would not have survived for 1996.
They were lucky enough to survive until 2004 so you have to give them credit. If they are going to have a team again, they need everybody you saw in this video that worked the front office back in those same positions and Moises Alou take his dads place as manager (the elder Alou is 82).
One of the things I didn't like was that blame was placed on Claude Brochu when the new stadium deal fell through, it wasn't his fault, he did everything in his power to make it happen but he was over ruled by the government.
Another big thing I read was coments made by the fans that had the owners not been cheapskates, they would still have their star players. What those fans didn't realize at the time, the salary cap comes from the MLB not the owners pockets. Those hostile feelings towards that subject is what made the MLB believe that Montreal didn't care about Baseball any more.
The whole front office staff in the '90s did everything they could to the best of their abilities which is all you can ask of them and they get punished for it by the fans.
I really hope Montreal gets another team I really do but if they are going to have another shot at greatness, they need that old staff including those the fans ridiculed. Rehire the broadcasters too, they are still today as they were when they worked for the team eager to get the story right about their team for the fans.
This is the longest comment I have ever made but I hope that my point gets across to who it needs to.
Travis M Simpson I agree with you completely. I also disagree with the fans that said they would have automatically won the world series. That is a disrespect to a lot of teams. They forget to look at the wildcard that year which probably would have Atlanta in there. As well as the powerful Indians in the American League.
It's not automatic they would have won, but that was by far and away their best chance to win. While the Indians were powerful, they were still contending with the White Sox, who were leading the division. And the Expos wouldn't have been rattled by the Braves. They knew how to beat them. Not to mention, we know the track record of Atlanta's pitching staff in the playoffs.
And keep in mind, the Expos best players were willing to take less than market value to stay, but management wasn't interested, and still ordered the fire sale.
Brochu was an undercapitalised owner... he only became Managing Partner because Bronfman gave him his ownership share as a thank you on leaving. He had no money to put into a stadium and no money to put into playing talent. The Quebec gov't was closing schools and hospitals to try and reduce their budget deficit, they had no business putting money into a professional sports stadium.
The Expos did not make money... the "glory" years we all remember? They maxed out at just over 28k avg attendance. I loved them then and wish they could come back... but it's not realistic unless Bell Media is a major partner (Rogers owns the Jays)... the only way a new team could work is if a media partner either overpays for broadcast rights long term or is a part owner.
Even at that, you are going to need 30-35k in the stands EVERY night to make a new team work. The Expos have never had that... even eliminating their last 5 or 6 desperate lame duck seasons, their avg attendance from 1969-1995 is about 20k.
The general economics of baseball are much better now than in the early 2000s, but that doesn't change the fact that an Expos II will generate at least $50m less locally than 25-26 other MLB markets can. That is money that other clubs can spend, but Montreal, Tampa, Miami and a couple of others could not.
@@ShmuelWeintraub Just now saw this, with a weak Canadian dollar, Bringing back the Expos or an NBA team in Vancouver would be a tall order but since NHL has a Canada assistance program, do you think MLB and the NBA could adopt such a policy?
MLB did not want a Canadian team to win the world series 3 years in a row... the 94 expos.. fantastic team.... came right on the heels of the back to back Jays championships... that was an issue.
the Expos will not return to Montreal unless a new baseball specific stadium is built, the Quebec Government says they want $ 220 million in renovations to Olympic Stadium so a new baseball specific stadium will have to be privately financed
+vanboy0 True and I Would Be Shocked If They Came Back To Baseball It's NOT Going To Happen!
Von Noosh Yup The Rays Should Had a New Outdoor Stadium a Few Years Ago Rather Then Keep Playing In The Stupid Dome Stadium!
Niederman,It rains a lot in Tampa. They need a "stupid domed stadium"..Just like they will need one in Montreal if the Expos return. April & October baseball is not pleasant.
From 1987 until they left for Washington, the Expos never finished in the top 10 in the NL in attendance, finishing last many times. Even in their two big years 1993 (13th) and 1994 (11th) they couldn't draw
10 years after the Expos never got the opportunity, they moved the Washington, D.C. and 25 years after the strike ended the Expos opportunity, the Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series Championship as the Nationals avenged the Expos' lost opportunity from 1994 because of the strike.
it should have been Yankees vs. Expos in the World Series,
or White Sox vs. Expos.
MLB needs the Expos back ASAP!!! One of my favorite team growing up- Tim Raines, Gary Carter, Steve Rogers, Andre Dawson and more...
My dad loves the montreal expos. Every time he watches this documentary, he gets emotional. Back in the day, he would take the greyhound from ottawa to montreal and watch expos at Jarry Park .
Tragedy struck both cities in different ways. The Montreal Expos should've won and were destined to win the 1994 World Series. The same way you could say the 1992-93 Toronto Maple Leafs were destined to win the Stanley Cup. Yet, both teams were derailed by underhanded tactics, and I won't reiterate them because we all know them too well. At least Toronto can say that the Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, and Montreal can say that in 1993 they hoisted their 24th Stanley Cup - a record that still stands.
And in 2019, they won as the Washington Nationals.
25 years after getting robbed.
The minute the talent was sold, Also the team right after and then multiple owners. I have to say bye bye Expos. You need Hero's and legends to make a team.
The Expos will return to Montreal......and so will the history of the original team. I think there was always a good fan base for Major League Baseball, but circumstances that were shown in this documentary prevented that from happening. Then-Mayor Jean Drapeau didn't fulfill his promise to Bronfman on constructing an MLB stadium for the Expos because of the spending binges for the Olympics and Expo 67. How will any future Expos ballpark be funded? The negative studies and media coverage over publicly funded stadiums remain an ongoing battle in the United States and Canada also.
I can only relate to the loss of the Expos but on a far smaller scale when the former ownership of the Detroit Pistons, specifically Bill Davidson's widowed wife Karen, sold the WNBA's Detroit Shock to a partnership of Oklahoma businessmen in 2009........which the same team was approved to relocate to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and playing in an area with less than 10,000 capacity. Whatever remained of the WNBA Detroit team was purged one and a half years in Tulsa, and the Tulsa Shock only made the postseason in 2015 that same season the relocation to the Metroplex was approved. The Shock in Detroit were doing damn well that started with a Cinderella season in 2003 with a championship despite speculation of folding or relocating to San Antonio after a league worst 9-23 season in 2002. They made the playoffs from 2003-2009 and won two WNBA championships in 2006 and 2008 including a playoff run that ended in the 2009 conference finals.
+BrownBrother27 i never knew the pistons fan base was hurt as much as the expos. If you liked this documentary dont forget to subscribe! ive got a lot more expos content where that came from
I can't speak for the entire Pistons fan base. I'm only speaking for myself. I stopped liking the Pistons for some time because of the Karen Davidson's decision to sell the Detroit Shock. She is Jeffrey Loria for me with the ex-Tulsa Shock Coach and General Manager Nolan Richardson as Claude Brochu. Richardson conducted a "40 Minutes of Hell" sale which was a bust because the "40 Minutes of Hell" style of play didn't adapt well into professional basketball. Key players from the Detroit team didn't join the team in Tulsa for various reasons. I will subscribe to your channel. :-)
Let me get this straight you're no longer a Pistons fan because your wnba team is gone 🤔...😂
+Mark Guerrero My dislike has faded in the last couple years or so. Karen Davidson & majority now-Dallas Wings owner Bill Cameron are Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon respectively to me. My contempt for Karen Davidson and Bill Cameron mirror those from Seattle Supersonics fans and Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon, and Howard Schultz.
BrownBrother27 wtf is the wnba?
I mean the nations capital during that stretch not having a team is more of a tragedy then a bunch of French people that only care about soccer
Any lead after 6 innings meant Rojas to Wetteland... and ballgame.
You can make an argument that had the 1994 Montreal Expos squad won the World Series, they could've had their own successful era.
Sure. But even if they had won, could they have kept that team together? It's not very likely given the revenue generating limitations in Montreal. Even if they got their "free" $250m stadium, they'd still need 30k fans ready and willing to pay to fill it 80 nights a year. Expos fans were never willing to turn up in large numbers, unfortunately.
@@ShmuelWeintraub That's totally untrue. During winning seasons, the Expos never had a problem filling up the stadium. It was just so disheartening to see the team dismantled in 1995, and yes there was very little interest in the final years.
@@dbo514 : Many people "think" that. But they (and you) are wrong. The Expos never came close to filling the stadium with any level of frequency.
Check MLB attendance on Baseball Reference... I'll give you the highlights re: Montreal.
The highest avg attendance the team EVER had was 1979-82, when they averaged 26k, 27k, 28.5k and 28.5k respectively. In those years, they were well above MLB average (the early 80s were a low point for MLB attendance as a whole). After that, the Expos averaged over 21,000 fans only THREE times (1987, 1989 and 1994). In the so called "greatest" season, 1994, the Expos averaged just 22,390... for the self described "BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL". In 1992 and '93, while the best team in baseball was being built (and while baseball interest in Canada was high, thanks to the Jays WS wins) the team averaged 20,607 and 20,265 fans per game.
In the "new stadium bump" years when they moved from Jarry to then new Olympic stadium, the Expos drew an avg of 17,701 and 17,617 (both around 2k below then MLB average).
I don't know if you were around for the Expos heyday or not, but if you were you do not remember the reality of the Expos so called "golden" years. The fans who came to see them loved them... but there were never enough of them.
@@ShmuelWeintraub Montreal had no problem getting fans in there stadium, Well in fact they have more fans than a lot of teams today fill there stadium.
@@overdaedgebroadcasting2220 : Did you not read the numbers I researched and posted a few months ago?
Many people "think" the Expos drew well. They did not. Post 1982 (after the first strike), they drew over 21,000 on avg only three times. The 1994 team - regularly referred to as the best in baseball - drew just 22k and change on average.
Don't believe me?
Here are the actual numbers. Read them and then try and tell me they had great support...
www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/attend.shtml
Even the very best Expos teams played to (at best) a half empty Olympic stadium. Please don't post crap about their great support if either weren't around for the years they existed or just don't know what the truth is.
The really ironic thing is that if Charles Bronfman had stuck with the franchise, the changes in how baseball managed their economics would have more than compensated him for the sacrifices he made early let alone cultural pride
Sure. But he was losing millions every year. If it took from 1990 until 2008 for MLB's "other revenue streams" to even things out, he could have lost $150-200m just operating the team for that length of time. And that just evens out the financial competition, it doesn't make the Expos a cash spinner.
Sad to say, but he made the right financial decision. The only thing that makes me mad is that he gave Brochu such a golden handshake. He should not have been an owner at all, much less managing partner.
if any teams should be sacked, it should be both Florida teams. neither team can draw fans.
Rays should move to San Antonio
Anthony Kernich
I live in Tampa, there will be a new stadium within a few years. The team isn't moving.
the Marlins need to relocate...they cant seem to get an owner who wants to spend $$$$..they always seem to want the lowest payroll in the MLB
@@FSU2001 But draw people that's the thing, What good is a new stadium if you ain't drawing shit.
As a white sox fan my response is so this is who we would have played in the world series if it wasn't for the strike
they were the best team that year and probably would've won the series that year
William Nevins they would've won! They were too good!
I'm a St Louis Cardinals fan but love the Expos and lament '81, '94 and especially the loss of the franchise to Washington DC -- where there is little respect paid to the north-of-the-border legacy of the team.
I always say that the Braves would have likely won a tough NLCS series in 6 games due to their deep starting rotation and playoff experience in 1994. That makes the pain a bit less intense. :) :)
Top Ten: Probably true. There were more than 6 weeks to go in the season when the lockout happened. No-one knows what might have happened in those six weeks, cold streaks, injuries, just plain bad luck. '94 Expos were a great team, but we do not know how the story would have ended if the season had been completed.
I miss the Expos and baseball in Montreal.
That Montreal team was a very special team that had their destiny taken away by owners greed...MLB should have let the season play out.
The Expos had some nice uniforms, too bad the Nationals couldn't keep them
Actually they do. They still have the history of the Montreal Expos and occasionally will wear a retro Expos uniform
Im a lifelong Reds fan and it seems like I saw the Expos at Riverfront Stadium more than anyone else. I'll always remember the skinny guy named Pedro striking out 14 Reds for a shutout, and Vlad throwing out Pat Watkins at third from the right field warning track and hitting 2 long homeruns
It is hard to believe that today marks 20 years that the Expos played their last game in Montreal, this team could have been more than just a team cursed by the '94 Strike. Gosh, I miss the Expos.
I always thought it was a bunch of French fans more interested in hockey, but they had good attendance when the teams were good just like any other city.
GRRRR.... I am still bitter over this. I had a chance to see them that year but the strike happened and I missed them.
baseball owners jacked up this great season. expos and ws in the world series!!
It's sad that the new ballpark did not happen. With MLB looking to expand, I hope there is a group that will look to bring MLB back & get the province to agree to build a new downtown ballpark. I have no doubt Montreal would reestablish itself as one of the best atmospheres for MLB baseball.
I say Montreal and San Antonio should be the 31st and 32nd MLB expansion teams.
Either an expansion team or a relocated team, like the Rays. They're a very good team that still can't draw fans and they can't make money. Those player would love getting the fan support in Montreal.
Even to this day there have been a bunch of What Ifs. What if Andre Dawson caught the ball by the wall in Game 5 of the '81 NLCS? What if the MLB didn't have to go on strike in '94? There have been times when the Expos have been pushed to the side, and sometimes having to take a backseat to the Canadiens, which is unfortunate because the Expos played some really good baseball over the years.
I heard a crazy story mlb cancelled the 1994 season to prevent the Expos from winning Canada's third straight world series
Yeah, they got screwed in 1994, but shouldn't have been in the postseason in 1981. Cards and Reds got screwed a lot worse..
15:45 The dodgers had 6 straight rookie of the year, first rookie of the year and the most rookie of the year.
I feel for the fans of Montreal and have every right to be pissed. After the 93 season norm green moved our team from Minnesota to dallas.i am now a wild fan but wouldn't watch a game the first few years of there existence but came around.
What's crazy that the city of Montreal renovated Olympic stadium and still use it for events but they couldn't renevate the stadium when the expos were there was what really ticked everybody off
I'm a jays fan and I really want the expos back
here is why:
so if the jays get out in the world series I have another canadian team to cheer for
Well if the jays get out of the world series then the seasons over.tf
The thing that really drives home how good the Expos could have been was that they went 88-74 in 1996! Mark Grudzilienek (however you spell it) had over 200 hits and hit 300. Henry Rodriguez hit 36 dingers out of nowhere. Ken Hill went 16-10 with the Rangerzzz that year with a 3.63 e.r.a (which was 45 percent better than league average when accounting for ballpark). If they could have had Hill and Wettland for 96, they could have won it again.
Expos had way better players even better looking uniforms ✊🏾
White Sox and expos should have won that year if it wasn't for the strike
If the strike had never happened, i believe the leagues history would have dramatically changed.
Buck Showalter remains the manager of the Yankees meaning that Joe Torre may not manage the Yankees. The Red Sox never acquire Pedro Martinez and remain cursed. Matt Williams may have hit 62-64 home runs, Tony Quinn might have batted .400, the Braves don’t win it all and Bobby Cox may not be in the HOF and have a WS ring (Marquis Grissom doesn’t come to ATL).
Who knows what teams get effected the most had the strike not had occurred.
Who the heck is "Tony Quinn"?
Michael Hope I’m sure they meant Tony Gwynn.
Expos are finally in the World series as the Washington Nationals. Does it feel good for Expos fans? No.
Haha, I was rooting against the Nationals. I remember the "pain" of the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup their first year out of Quebec. lol
They should feel some sort of retribution.
25 years after being robbed, they got it done, albeit under a different name and city.